Blythe experiences this firsthand, of course, with a mother who abandons her and isn’t capable of the kind of love and mothering that Blythe craves. Do we always have unconditional love for a child? What would threaten that? How would that feel as a mother? What legacy did Blythe’s mother and grandmother leave?īlythe’s mother, Cecilia, tells Blythe when she’s young: “the women in this family, we’re different.” This weighs heavily on Blythe as a young woman, this knowledge that her own mother and grandmother struggled greatly with motherhood. I was very interested in exploring the idea of a mother who suspects her child is capable of something unthinkable, or unforgiveable.

We are, of course, so extremely uncomfortable with the idea of a child having the emotional ability to commit an ‘evil’ act – but of course, some children do. Was Violet evil?Īgain, I’d hate to give too much away with this answer, and readers may have their own interpretation of Violet and what she is ultimately responsible for. Because of this, I think it’s fair the reader would question her reliability – is she trying to convince him of something? Are resentment and defensiveness clouding the truth? It’s certainly true in life that we each have our own biased lens through which we understand one another, an event, or a relationship. It’s quite an intimate, narrow perspective – I wanted the reader to feel right in the middle of their marriage.

The Push is written from the point of view of Blythe, who is telling her side of this story specifically to her husband, Fox. I don’t know if I can answer that without giving too much away! My hope is that readers are trying to answer this question for themselves as they read. So we put our questions to Audrain herself: here is what she had to say. Judging by how The Push has ignited message boards of readers online and, we’ve no doubt, got people chatting in their book groups, we’re not alone in having a desperate need to chat about the book we so feverishly engulfed. If you’ve not, you may want to: there are spoilers ahead.Īudrain’s concept is simple, but nevertheless daring in how far it pushes some of our deepest fears: what if our children don’t love us back, what if we’re creating monsters, what happens when our dearly held versions of the truth are questioned? If you’re here, chances are you’ve read The Push, the incendiary debut novel from Ashley Audrain.

What did you make of it? The Push by Ashley Audrain.

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